Infrastructure, the stuff that ties the vast reaches of our country together, powers our homes and businesses, stores our water and delivers it to where we need it, and enables us to get from one place to another, receives another poor grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ain’t quite a total failure but Read More
All posts by jmp
Whither the Jobs? Robots on the March!
Will robots replace humans in performing most of the jobs that now provide paychecks for the majority of workers? If so, when? And what will be the fate of those workers once they’re out of work? The Economist offers an interesting look at the subject here.
Slip Slidin’ Away
The majority of people in the United States live within a hundred miles of the nation’s coastline. For those who live at the shore, in some of the country’s most expensive homes, climate change is lapping at their equity with relentless force. Many $trillions of real estate is at increasing risk of being lost to Read More
When You Really Want to Get On Down the Road
Rocketing from one star system to another like Captain Kirk and the crew has any number of physical problems to overcome. Which is not to say it can’t be done. In fact, there is some high level academic speculation that someone may already be doing it. Story HERE
Mysticism in Theatre and in Life
We revisited this post from 2017 the day after the 2020 elections and found it to be every bit as relevant now, as this quote from the linked article suggests: “As we head into a more difficult and divisive period in American political and social history, a reinvigoration of these ideas represents a much-needed remedy. Read More
Getting High is Energy Intensive
According to an article in the March 8, 2017 edition of Energize Weekly, it takes a formidable amount of energy to get high. Lessons learned from the burgeoning marijuana industry: The paradigm of marijuana legalization across the country will have profound impacts and consequences on power operations and electricity consumption. Following the election of November 2016, Read More
Cornhuskers Hunt Deere
Thinking about systems that come to serve themselves rather than their customers can uncover a lot of egregious examples. Here’s the latest assault on the family farmer by Big Ag: Kyle Schwarting is a 36 year old farmer in Nebraska who likes to take care of things himself. He’s self-reliant and doesn’t take kindly to Read More
Money For Nothing
‘It’s an incredibly simple idea: universal basic income – a monthly allowance of enough to pay for your basic needs: food, shelter, education.’ The rapid development of technology such as artificial intelligence and robotics may someday soon make large swaths of the human workforce obsolete. There may not be corresponding growth in job opportunities elsewhere Read More
A Brief History of Gender Equity in Theatre
How long has gender equity in theatre been an issue? Maybe forever. If you think we’ve moved closer to parity the past few years, we have. But not far enough and not nearly fast enough. If you’d like to gain a little perspective about the subject, you can get it here
Reclaiming a Healthy Economy
Wall Street has come to rely not on interest from loans for its profits but on short-term trading, at the expense of almost everything else. The damage done in the name of capitalism and meritocracy to our current economic circumstances can be traced to the wealth-making wizardry of Wall Street on steroids. Imagine methamphetamines as Read More